I love marking the seasons with my kids. My 3 year old is just now getting old enough to really appreciate it. We are having a great autumn filled with colored leaves, fall art projects, pumpkins, cider, apples and cider donuts. Holidays are more fun with kids too. Halloween is still three weeks away but we have costumes planned and parties to attend. So to continue the Halloween momentum, I wanted to find some good Halloween songs for kids on YouTube. There are a lot of lame ones, so I have picked which four I thought were best to share with you.
1. Five Little Pumpkins
After watching several versions of this song on YouTube I picked this one as my favorite. The two little girls sing it clearly and do all the hand motions. They are sitting next to lit jackolanterns (very festive) and their excitement is genuine, unlike the syrupy versions of adults doing the song with the hand motions. My son loves watching other kids do things, so this is a perfect version.
2. The Skeleton Dance
This version of the Skeleton Dance is done by Super Simple Songs, my kids love their version of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star so they are a trusted source. The song is animated with dancing skeletons and as they sing "the foot bone's connected to the leg bone" each bone lights up. It's another song that can get your kid moving and motioning while they sing. As cheesy as they might be, I think those types of songs are the most fun for kids.
3. Halloween Cat
I had never heard of this one, but it's a cute, short little rhyme with a cute video. It's got a fun slapstick ending [SPOILER ALERT] when the cat slips off the rock.
4. The Monster Mash
How could I not include this classic? It's animated with cute and friendly looking Halloween characters. Very benign, and very festive.
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Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Monday, October 7, 2013
Monday, September 9, 2013
My Daughter's First Baby Music Class
When my son was 1 year old we had fun going to baby classes together. Now that my he is in preschool, it is my daughter's turn. We signed up for Music Together at the Flynn Space. The timing of the class worked out perfectly and was one the only baby class I found that didn't interfere with preschool pickup. Flynn Space staff were especially accommodating and let us in the early class even though it was already full since I told them it was the only section that fit our schedule.
My 17 month old daughter wasn't so sure when we first walked in the room, but as soon as she saw the box of musical instruments in the middle of the rug on the floor she changed her mind. She grabbed a stick and an egg shaker and didn't let go. We had arrived early and all the other kids and moms (plus a dad) trickled in. The kids ranged in age from 1 to 3 years old. The teacher, Alison, was very warm and friendly. Half of the class was children she had already taught in a previous class, and half of us were newbies. Alison was very understanding of each child and their stage of development. She didn't mind if kids were wandering around the room, or refusing to give up a musical stick even when everyone else had already turned theirs in (that was my daughter on more than one occasion). She understands that kids learn in different ways and participate at different levels, but they are all still learning.
The class started with a welcome song where each child's name was sung. Each child was given a nametag to wear, or for the parent to wear if the child was unwilling (once again this was my daughter). The class was nonstop action with songs with hand and finger movements. Then we would get up and walk, run, and tiptoe in a circle while singing. It was a combination of Alison singing a capella, and singing with recordings. She brought out percussion instruments for the kids to bang and shake, and scarves to dance and wiggle with.
My daughter loved it. She laughed and danced and participated to the best of her ability shaking percussion instruments in a rudimentary rhythm. Alison even noticed one of her actions during a song and incorporated it for the whole group to copy. By the time we got to the scarves dancing, she was getting hungry though. She picked up some scarves at first and waved them around. Then suddenly she dropped them and both signed and verbalized "all done." "You're all done? Ok." I said, and picked her up to try and keep her scarf dancing a little longer. She was not impressed and ripped her nametag off my shirt, tossed it on the floor, and repeated her sign for "all done" followed by her sign for "hungry, eat!"
We muddled through the last few minutes of class, which ended with lights out and some quiet time while Alison sang a lullaby while accompanying herself with guitar, then a goodbye song. "Eat! Eat!" my daughter signed while making loud smacking noises with her mouth. "Ok, we're really all done now." I conceded.
Alison provided us all with books and a cd of the songs she teaches during class to bring home and learn. I think it's going to be a great class. Next time I will just be sure to make sure my daughter has a bigger snack beforehand.
My 17 month old daughter wasn't so sure when we first walked in the room, but as soon as she saw the box of musical instruments in the middle of the rug on the floor she changed her mind. She grabbed a stick and an egg shaker and didn't let go. We had arrived early and all the other kids and moms (plus a dad) trickled in. The kids ranged in age from 1 to 3 years old. The teacher, Alison, was very warm and friendly. Half of the class was children she had already taught in a previous class, and half of us were newbies. Alison was very understanding of each child and their stage of development. She didn't mind if kids were wandering around the room, or refusing to give up a musical stick even when everyone else had already turned theirs in (that was my daughter on more than one occasion). She understands that kids learn in different ways and participate at different levels, but they are all still learning.
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| Alison, Music Together |
My daughter loved it. She laughed and danced and participated to the best of her ability shaking percussion instruments in a rudimentary rhythm. Alison even noticed one of her actions during a song and incorporated it for the whole group to copy. By the time we got to the scarves dancing, she was getting hungry though. She picked up some scarves at first and waved them around. Then suddenly she dropped them and both signed and verbalized "all done." "You're all done? Ok." I said, and picked her up to try and keep her scarf dancing a little longer. She was not impressed and ripped her nametag off my shirt, tossed it on the floor, and repeated her sign for "all done" followed by her sign for "hungry, eat!"
We muddled through the last few minutes of class, which ended with lights out and some quiet time while Alison sang a lullaby while accompanying herself with guitar, then a goodbye song. "Eat! Eat!" my daughter signed while making loud smacking noises with her mouth. "Ok, we're really all done now." I conceded.
Alison provided us all with books and a cd of the songs she teaches during class to bring home and learn. I think it's going to be a great class. Next time I will just be sure to make sure my daughter has a bigger snack beforehand.
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| Music materials provided by Music Together |
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